“He attacked me,” Cade replied back.

His sword was still drawn, with the pistol in the other hand, but there was no aggression from the legionaries.

Even so, Amber darted to Cade’s side, her own sword drawn.

“Shit,” was all she said.

The men looked at them dully, and Cade saw the exhaustion in their eyes. In that moment, he realized just how hard this must be for them. Men, traumatized by their time on the Gray realm, outnumbered, hunted, and bereft of hope for years.

And now, thrown into monstrous jungles, marching through the night, their destination unknown, with almost no understanding of what they were there for.

These men just wanted to survive. When they returned … Cade knew he had to tell them. Let them know they were not subject to the whims of gods but of creatures from another planet. That their fates were not foregone, that their lives were not already forfeit.

For now, they needed one thing. Hope.

Now the other legionaries arrived, and the knowledge of Atticus’s death rippled through them in a mess of whispered conversation.

“I have a way to get us out of this,” Cade said as every eye in the chamber turned toward him. “Follow me, as you did at the Triton fortress, and I promise we will survive this.”

The men looked resigned. There was no outrage. These men were broken, living moment to moment. None had the energy to challenge his leadership.

“What’s going on?” Scott asked, having just entered the tomb, oblivious to the latest turn of events. “We’ve got some treasure here.”

Cade stepped forward, and the legionaries parted to reveal Scott festooned with gold. It was rudimentary in design, a pile of torques, amulets, rings, and brooches. Boudicca, queen of the Iceni, had been buried well.

Scott clinked his way forward and gave a little twirl, breaking the tension of the cavern. He even elicited smiles as he curtsied to Amber.

Behind him, Quintus carried a large staff topped with a trumpet, a horn Cade knew to be a carynx. It was gold too, and again Cade marveled at the dedication of these leaders’ followers to leave them with so much wealth. That, and a healthy appreciation for the afterlife.

“Right,” Cade said, motioning to his men to follow. “Amber and Quintus, dump all of that in Genghis’s tomb and move on to Attila’s. Scott, you search Atahuallpa’s. I’ll do Alexander’s.”

“What’s going on, Cade?” Amber said as the others rushed off. “Why are we piling it there? We need to negotiate with Abaddon soon.”

Cade winced and turned on his heel. “He came to me already,” he said. “Before Atticus attacked. He’ll transport us all back, alive, in exchange for all the treasure here.”

Amber’s face fell. “That’s it?” she asked. “We did this for nothing?”

Cade paused. He knew her feelings about the bomb. Knew in another life, where he had never met Song, he might have negotiated for something different.

Amber stared at him, seeing his hesitation, her expression darkening.